Now it’s Cal, UCLA chasing the same goal

Updated 11:05 pm, Saturday, November 18, 2017

The Bears were hoping it wouldn’t come to this. A Big Game victory would have secured a bowl-game berth, marking coach Justin Wilcox’s first season as an unqualified success and sending all the bragging rights toward the Berkeley campus.

That goal remains within reach, but after a 17-14 loss at Stanford in the Big Game on Saturday, the 5-6 Bears have to get that sixth win at UCLA next Friday night. It doesn’t hurt Cal’s cause that the Bruins’ program is in tatters just now, with no guarantee that coach Jim Mora can hold his job.

As it happens, the Bruins are reeling from Saturday’s 28-23 loss to crosstown rival USC and a number of underachieving performances this season, even with heralded quarterback Josh Rosen running the show. Fans and boosters seem to have run out of patience with Mora, whose record is 18-18 since the 2014 loss to Stanford that knocked the Bruins out of the Pac-12 championship game.

Most intriguing: The Bruins are also 5-6 and desperately need a bowl-game appearance.

“That’s all we’re focused on right now — UCLA,” said Cal quarterback Ross Bowers. “One more game. Gotta get that win, get this feeling off. That’s it.”

Californias Patrick Laird (28) fumbles the ball out of bounds at the one-yard-line as he's brought down by Stanfords Ben Edwards (9) during the third quarter of the 120th Big Game, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 in Stanford, Calif. Stanford won, 17-14. less

Californias Patrick Laird (28) fumbles the ball out of bounds at the one-yard-line as he's brought down by Stanfords Ben Edwards (9) during the third quarter of the 120th Big Game, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017 ... more

Bowers was stoic and clearly disappointed during his postgame interview, knowing his fourth-quarter interception (by Ben Edwards) was a blow to Cal’s chances. “It’s very unfortunate when you know the play’s on you,” he said. “I wish I could have it back. Just gotta learn from it.”

Wilcox said Bowers “competed really well. Threw the ball on time for the most part (20-for-29), and he’s getting better each week. There’s gonna be some plays in there that he learns from, but I think you’ve seen the growth. He hurts right now. Like we all do.”

The Bears’ shining light was running back Patrick Laird, who rushed for 153 yards and had “a hell of a game,” said Wilcox. Laird praised his offensive line, saying, “I knew those guys could handle (Stanford’s) up front. They gave me and our other backs the opportunity to make some plays.”

But Laird knew this was a Big Game that got away. “I don’t know if I buy into ‘moral victories’ very much,” he said. “I know we come out and compete every single game, but at the end of the day, we judge everything off of whether we won or lost.”

Summing it up, Wilcox said, “Our guys are gonna hurt, and it stings. Now we’ve got a huge game next week. We’ll have to play our best against a really good team down there. But it’ll take 24 hours or so to wash this one.”